Pat Rice: A murky land deal is exposed, thanks to a reporter's digging

By Pat Ricepat.rice@news-jrnl.com

Sunday

Jun 5, 2016 at 12:01 AMJun 5, 2016 at 7:45 AM

I know one thing: Dinah Pulver's going to keep digging. Stay tuned.

For weeks now, The News-Journal's Dinah Pulver has unraveled how John Miklos, chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District board, has also managed to represent dozens of businesses and municipalities that are seeking permits from the district.

But for the clumsy handling of land development by the dysfunctional city of DeBary, this situation may never have come to light. Here is some background, all attributed to Pulver's reporting.

DeBary officials have — understandably — wanted to develop land near the city's SunRail station.

In 2015, they began exploring the possibility of developing 102 acres of land the district owns near the station. It would be part of a 300-acre development that would include 2,400 homes, more than 200,000 square feet of non-residential space, and a large pond. The 102 acres is part of a 944-acre conservation area known as the Gemini Springs Addition, acquired by the district in 1999 for conservation and water resource protection.

Things got murky in a hurry.

At a city workshop on May 20, 2015, city of DeBary engineer David Hamstra of Pegasus Engineering brought up the 102 acres. Noting that he had to be "real careful," Hamstra said: "About a year ago the idea of going to the Gemini Springs area was pretty much going to be a difficult and exhausting challenge for the city to pursue that." He added, "There has been a change in (district) upper management, the governor has changed some of the directors positions. And there may be a relaxing in their position on maybe working with the city after all."

Then, Roger Van Auker, the city's marketing director for the transit development, weighed in: "It's pretty premature right now but we at least we're, we did have an open dialogue, very, very, very preliminary discussion with uh, I don't want to get into names but, but with some high-ranking officials with the water management district. And they were, they weren't negative about our idea at all."

To date, no one will disclose the name of that high-ranking district official. Six days after that meeting — on May 26, 2015 — the city inked a deal with a consultant to assess the district land. The consultant was Bio-Tech Consulting. Its president is Miklos, a member of the district board since 2010 and chairman since 2013.

At an October 2015 meeting, DeBary City Manager Dan Parrott said the city also had some "initial meetings or discussion with a rather large developer" about the property. Parrott and others from the city haven't disclosed the identity of that developer.

In March, Van Auker sent an email to Jay Baker, a director at Bio-Tech. "Did you confirm once again with John Miklos regarding the use of the land (102 acres) to be used for both public storm water, public open space and some private development the fact that there will be no restrictions from SJRWMD?" Baker replied: "I have been speaking with John regarding the transfer of ownership. His idea is currently to transfer ownership of the entire Gemini Springs property over to the city of DeBary." In an interview in April, Miklos told Pulver that exchange was "just a miscommunication."

Miklos' company has represented clients with permitting activities 117 times before the district since he joined its board. Since Miklos became chairman, his company's business before the water management district has more than doubled.

There's still a lot of "what we don't know" here. Perhaps the complaint a citizen has filed against Miklos over the DeBary development with the Florida Commission on Ethics will provide answers, especially whether such an obvious appearance of conflict of interest is allowed. Or maybe answers will come from the recent State Attorney's Office raid at DeBary City Hall seeking emails related to the land deal. Or maybe Gov. Rick Scott will actually take interest in the goings on at an agency for which he is ultimately responsible.

I know one thing: Pulver's going to keep digging. Stay tuned.

− Rice is The News-Journal's editor. His email is Pat.Rice@news-jrnl.com.

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